Senior violinist Justin Wilson said he has loved being a part of the orchestra program during high school.

“I like Ms. Edgar, the people in (the program), I like playing the violin,” Wilson said. “Playing with the orchestra is fun. It gives me a nice break from homework and regular school stuff.”

According to Wilson, he enjoyed the new music played at the concert, especially Irish Legend.

“It was nice. It was my first year playing a lot more solo pieces,” Wilson said.

Orchestra conductor Miriam Edgar said this concert is different from other concerts because at the  end of the year there’s a lot of reflection among her students.

“I think the most special thing is it’s the last concert that I get to have with the seniors before they go off to college and I feel like they really shine at this concert,” Edgar said. “They get to be like ‘wow, I’ve done all this.’”

According to senior violist Katie Steiner, her love for music is one of the reasons she’s enjoyed being in orchestra.

“I love being in the orchestra program because it is a way to express yourself,” Steiner said. “(It’s a way to) hang out with your friends, have fun and make music, which brings me a lot of joy.”

Steiner said she enjoyed hearing the orchestra play a piece she had written herself.

“I’ve got to say it was really, really cool. I never thought that something like that would ever happen to me so to be standing and looking out at and looking out at my peers,” Steiner said. “Once I heard the music it was magical.”

According to Wilson, the orchestra shone at the festival more that any other concert this year.

“I think it it went good for all of us. This was probably my best concert and the orchestra’s best concert. We did a good job,” Wilson said.

Edgar said the orchestra program’s progress was evident in the concert.

“I think overall (the concert) went very well, especially Irish Legend because that was our most recent piece and everybody worked hard and did their part and we got it there,” Edgar said. “I think that’s really awesome because I think about the orchestra five, six years ago definitely would not have been able to do that.”